The Rockets Dance Team has been fully restored for the 2023-2024 season.
The RMHS athletic department has worked to revive a dance team, as the school has not offered one for many years. An Orbit Contributor last year spoke to the Athletic Director, Tom Zaya, as the team was just coming together, but details were limited. Now, the team is in full swing.
The head coach of the dance team, Ms. Smith, is a first grade teacher at Joshua Eaton Elementary School. This is her first year as coach of a dance team. She attended Bridgewater State University and was a captain and member of the dance team there for her four years of college. Smith has experience with dance from college, but also has been a dance teacher for over six years.
The team consists of ten members; one junior, five sophomores, and 4 freshmen. In an email Coach Smith wrote,
The dancers are expected to attend the practices held 3 days a week; Monday’s, Tuesday’s, and Friday’s. On October 6th, the team danced during halftime at the high school’s Friday night homecoming game. “We hope to perform at another home football game, if there are any home playoff games,” said Smith.
In addition to home games, Smith adds that the team will also have the opportunity to compete; “We will be traveling with the Cheer Team on October 30th, to a competition at Woburn High School. We will be performing along with Wakefield High School in the Dance Exhibition portion of the competition.”
Reading is joining schools like Wakefield by incorporating a dance team. Austin Prep is another school nearby that offers this team to students, along with schools like Braintree and Marshfield, a little further away.
“We will be looking for more dancers to join our next year’s team next spring,” noted Smith. This is just the beginning for the RMHS dance team, hoping to continue to grow in future years.
